I thought I would take a moment and share one of my social media pet peeves. Many of my friends are dabbling in social media and don't always "get it." I understand that social media can be a challenge because it's not intuitive for some people. Give it time! I promise it will get easier.

The problem I have - yes, my pet peeve - is with the big time folks (I will leave it vague at that) who embrace social media but make it a one-way street.

These people use all forms of social media - or at least the ones that I monitor - Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn. They post their blogs links, etc to keep their fans up-to-date.

But here's the ironic thing. It's all one-way. If you reply via twitter, Facebook or other means you will not get a response.

I replied to a tweet or facebook post one time that a certain person had posted. A few weeks later I got a reply that said if you want to contact me send me an email at this address.

If you are not going to be monitoring your social media accounts you shouldn't be using them!

In a way, the companies that Caroline was talking about are at least more honest. They are letting you know that you can't communicate with them.

Social media is a two-way street. If you are going to use a social media channel you need to expect that people will reply to you using that channel. If you are going to tweet, be prepared to tweet back. Otherwise you're not really doing social media.

Photo credit: photo by satguru and used under the creative commons license.

18 comments:

As soon as I leave this comment, I'm going to read the article you cited. I have complained and complained to google about the difficulty of leaving comments. I think this is part of the problem. Many times it goes like this. Step 1 - write a comment. Step 2 - click to post. Step 3 - click to post AGAIN!. Step 4 - be taken to a page that tells you that you don't have permission and you must logout of your account by unchecking the box that keeps you signed in. Step 5 - add captcha symbol. Comment posted. Step 6 - Try to read next blog of interest. Step 7 - be told that you must log in again. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Thanks for letting me vent.

Totally agree with you Marian! The recent post by a blogger proclaiming to be a one way streeter as if it was something to be proud of was really quite condescending. The best part of blogging, tweeting, etc. is all of the amazing people I have met, learned from, laughed with, etc. You get it. It certainly does not mean that we do not have or are neglectting our relationships int he physical world. Thanks for saying it. Jen

What a lot of people don't get is that the key to Social Media is engagement and relationship building. It is not the old school of self-promotion and publicity. If you want people to remember you, trust you, you need to connect and engage. A lot of people have yet to learn that it requires a paradigm sift. It is not just about spending time "chatting" it is all about "engagement". Hopefully Marian your post will help them understand the difference.

Ahh, yes. The biggest put-off yet. I have hunted up a way to let my thoughts be known about this very issue, to and including pointing out to advertisers (when they exist)that I no longer will be bothering with either the site or their product. This has gotten results sometimes but not always. I have also pointed out the problem/my distaste for it (complete with naming sites) on other blogs' comments (when the subject comes up or is otherwise appropriate) and in mailing list groups and I've had a lot of feedback and seen some changes from that activity, but more and more sites seem to be manned by those not willing to be bothered......Valerie is exactly right: some aren't getting it. In addition I think some folks have a foot in each of so many doors they can't even keep track of it all and rather than cut back or put forth the effort to streamline their efforts they just sort of leave it all out of control: at least it shows me who I don't want to do business with.

Marian, I just found a slew of messages sent to me on Facebook under "Messages-->Other". Didn't know they were there. I think they are messages from people who aren't your "friends". But why are they hidden? That's my pet peeve (current as of this moment) about social media.

Hi Marian, I agree and what kills me is that some of the people who engage in the "one way street" are the most popular of the bunch! Kind of reminds me of high school...being around all the "cool" kids...I think I will just stick with being a cool geek instead!

I'm probably one of those who are guilty of joining every new thing that comes along, then waiting to see if it takes off (or not) - I'm not a natural at Social Media but do keep on top of comments on my blogs. I've had the Captcha on and off, but if I leave it off I get tons of spam, so have it on all the time, even though it cheeses me off when posting on others' blogs. Still struggling a little with Google+ as I haven't quite sussed it yet.

Well said, Marian! I'm not huge into social media, but do leave comments often. And I try to at least stay up with comments left on my blog. Thanks for politely putting these folks in their place. :-) Happy Holidays!

I enjoyed your post, and you made some very good observations! I have noticed that for many blogging is one-way, and simple acts of graciousness are not a part of their method of doing business. Great article!

You know I'm not so worried about bloggers or general comments (though interaction of course is always preferred). I'm thinking more about the people who send private facebook or twitter or google+ messages and then don't hear anything back. If you're not going to respond through a certain medium people need to be really clear and up front about how people should contact them. At least they should put it in their profile.

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I have a good friend who left a company but never updated his linkedIn account and I just happened to see his name on his old company today and I called him up and said, "Did you get rehired?" and he was like, "No, I haven't been on there for months"...LOL. Use it or loose it.